May 1, 2026
Neily v. Moraine Valley Community College; 24 CH 898
John Murphey won an important FOIA case on behalf of Moraine Valley Community College relating to a marketing video published by the College. In the video, taken in an employee’s office, a wall hanging was visible in the background which expressed the employee’s personal views on the Hamas-Israel conflict. A local advocacy group sent a broad FOIA request to the College seeking any email communications to or from the employee with various words that might related to the conflict; the College denied the FOIA request. A large Washington DC firm was brought in and filed suit. John successfully argued that FOIA does not require production of communications that are not related to the business of the College and that such free-ranging production would interfere with academic freedom. The Court agreed with the College that only communications related to College business should be produced. The Court also agreed that the Washington D.C. firm’s request for $70,000 in attorney’s fees was not justified and denied all fees to the firm.
This case highlights John’s exceptional lawyering skills and is an important precedent on the issues of academic freedom and faculty member personal privacy, as well as the denial of attorney’s fees in unsuccessful FOIA cases.
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